Vacuum apparatus for vacuum compression pack used to store foods

ABSTRACT

A vacuum apparatus for a vacuum compression pack used to store foods is provided. The vacuum apparatus includes a vacuum valve and a piston-type vacuum pump. The vacuum valve is installed in the vacuum compression pack, and the vacuum compression pack is prepared by using a pair of an upper vinyl and a lower vinyl having a sheet structure. Three edges of the vacuum compression pack are thermally compressed to seal the vacuum compression pack, and one edge of the vacuum compression pack is equipped with a zipper to seal the vacuum compression pack. The piston-type vacuum pump is installed in the vacuum compression pack such that the vacuum valve is buried in the vacuum pump.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a vacuum apparatus for a vacuum compression pack used to store foods, in which a vacuum pressure valve is installed in a vinyl bag having a sheet structure and the vinyl bag is held in a vacuum state by a vacuum pump, so that the foods packaged in the vacuum compression pack can be stored for a long period of time without decomposition of the foods.

2. Description of the Related Art

A general food vessel simply receives foods therein. If the foods are stored in the food vessel for a long period of time, the foods may be decomposed so that most homemakers may cook the foods available for a short period of time. Thus, the homemakers must frequently cook the foods, causing inconvenience especially for small families, such as two-income families.

In order to solve the above drawback, a vacuum vessel has been developed to store the foods in a vacuum state. However, it is difficult to keep the vacuum vessel in a perfect vacuum state, so that the available time of the foods stored in the vacuum vessel may be short.

In this regard, recently, a vacuum apparatus has been suggested to store the foods in the vacuum state for a long period of time. According to the above vacuum apparatus, a vacuum valve is installed in a compression pack having a sheet structure and air contained in the compression pack is drained by an electric pump to maintain the compression pack in the vacuum state, thereby storing the foods in the vacuum state for a long period of time.

However, according to the above vacuum apparatus, the vacuum valve installed in the compression pack having the sheet structure may not be completely sealed, so that the vacuum state may not be perfectly maintained. In addition, since the electric pump is employed as a vacuum pump to drain the air contained in the compression pack, the vacuum pump may have the large size and expensive cost, so that the vacuum pump may not be easily available and popularized.

In addition, although most foods contain moisture, the vacuum valve cannot deal with the moisture, so the vacuum valve is unsanitary and easily open due to the moisture. Thus, it is almost impossible to reuse the vacuum valve.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum apparatus including a vacuum valve capable of perfectly sealing foods in a sanitary state and a vacuum pump having a small size to drain air through the vacuum valve, so the vacuum apparatus can be easily carried and stored while representing the inexpensive cost and high popularization.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a vacuum apparatus, in which a vacuum valve is installed in a compression pack having a sheet structure such that the vacuum valve can be buried in a piston-type pump, and the compression pack is held in a vacuum state by draining air contained in the compression pack through the up-down movement of a piston, thereby storing foods for a long period of time without decomposition of the foods.

As described above, according to the present invention, the air can be drained from the compression pack by using the vacuum valve and the piston-type pump, so that the structure of the vacuum apparatus can be simplified. Thus, the vacuum apparatus can be manufactured in a small size with the inexpensive cost, and can be easily carried and stored.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a vacuum apparatus according to the present invention, in which a piston installed in a vacuum valve is pressed down;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a vacuum apparatus according to the present invention, in which a piston is pulled up;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a vacuum valve installed in a compression pack according to the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the normal state of a vacuum valve.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings. The drawings may not be prepared with a reduced scale and the same reference numerals will be used to refer to the same elements throughout the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a vacuum apparatus according to the present invention, in which a piston installed in a vacuum valve is pressed down, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the vacuum apparatus according to the present invention, in which the piston is pulled up, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the vacuum valve installed in a compression pack according to the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the vacuum apparatus for the vacuum compression pack used to store foods includes a vacuum valve 4 and a piston-type vacuum pump 2. The vacuum valve 4 is installed in the vacuum compression pack 30. The vacuum compression pack 30 is prepared by using a pair of an upper vinyl and a lower vinyl having a sheet structure in such a manner that three edges of the vacuum compression pack 30 are thermally compressed to seal the vacuum compression pack 30, and one edge of the vacuum compression pack 30 is equipped with a zipper to seal the vacuum compression pack. The piston-type vacuum pump 2 is buried in the vacuum pump 4 such that air contained in the vacuum compression pack 30 can be forcibly drained to the outside through up-down movement of the piston-type vacuum pump 4 to hold the vacuum compression pack in a vacuum state.

The compression pack 30 having the sheet structure is formed with an opening and the vacuum pump 4 is fixedly inserted into the opening and then thermally compressed such that the compression pack 30 can be sealed. The center of the vacuum valve 4 is formed with a cylindrical partition wall 10 having a blind lower end, and a lower end of the cylindrical partition wall 10 is formed with a drain hole 12 to allow air to pass therethrough.

A packing 14 is fixed in the cylindrical partition wall 10 by a fixing pin 16 such that a lower end of the fixing pin 16 can be fixedly inserted into the lower end of the cylindrical partition wall 10. Thus, a blade provided at an outer portion of the packing 14 can closely adhere to an inner surface of the cylindrical partition wall 10, thereby sealing the cylindrical partition wall 10.

Preferably, the packing 14 is made from a silicon material, which is harmless to the human body.

The vacuum pump 2 is fitted with the vacuum valve 4 to drain the air contained in the compression pack 30. The vacuum pump 2 includes a piston, which reciprocates in a cylinder to drain the air contained in the compression pack 30. Upper and lower check valves 20 are open/closed in opposition to each other to drain the air to the outside.

A lower end of the vacuum pump 2 has a lozenge shape, such as a syringe, and a front part of the lower end of the vacuum pump 2 is thinly prepared in the form of a stair. A plurality of drain holes 35 are formed in the front part of the lower end of the vacuum pump 2 at the regular interval.

The check valves 20 are accommodated in space sections 28 and 28 a formed in a head part 26 provided at a lower end of a handle 22 and in a lower end of a cylinder 24, respectively. In addition, covers 27 having a

-shape is fitted in the check valves 20, so that the packing 14 is moved up and down when the piston is actuated, thereby draining the air to the outside.

The check valves 20 have a circular structure and incised sections 25 a, which are inclined in the form of semicircles, are radially formed in outer peripheral surfaces of the check valves 20 at the regular interval so that the air can be drained through gaps formed between the incised sections 25 a.

The handle has a hollow structure, such as a pipe. A protrusion 37 having a drain hole 36 is provided in an upper portion of the space section 28 a communicated with the handle. A hole 32 is formed at a predetermined portion of the handle to allow the air to pass therethrough. A circular packing 33 is fitted around an outer peripheral surface of the lower end of the handle 22 at an inner portion of the head part 26.

The vacuum apparatus having the above structure according to the present invention operates as follows. First, the foods are input into the compression pack 30 by opening the zipper provided in the compression pack 30 and then the zipper is fastened. Then, the lower end of the vacuum pump 2 is pushed toward the inner portion of the partition wall 10 of the vacuum valve 4, so that the packing 14 is placed in the partition wall 10 and a gap is formed between the drain hole 35 formed at the lower end of the vacuum pump 2 and the partition wall 10. In this state, if the user actuates the handle 22 up and down, the air contained in the compression pack 30 is drained to the outside.

In detail, as shown in FIG. 1, if the piston is pushed toward the vacuum valve 4, the check valve provided at the lower end of the cylinder is pushed so that the check valve adheres to a partition provided in the cylinder. In addition, the check valve provided in the head part of the handle adheres to the lower end of the handle. At this time, the air can be drained through the gap between the incised sections 25 a formed at the outer peripheral surface of the check valve and the cylinder. In addition, the air is drained through the hole 32 formed in the handle, so that the handle can be easily moved toward the vacuum valve 4.

After the handle has been completely pushed, if the user pulls the handle, the check valves are directed in opposition to each other reversely to the pushing state of the handle, so that the air contained in the compression pack is collected in the cylinder.

In this state, if the user pushes the handle, the air contained in the cylinder is drained to the outside.

Since the air contained in the cylinder can be drained to the outside by repeating the above operation several times, the compression pack can be held in the vacuum state, so that the foods can be stored for a long period of time without decomposition of the foods.

Although the vinyl bag is employed in the present invention as an example, a plastic vessel can also be used in the present invention. In this case, the plastic vessel is equipped with a cover having a sealing function and the vacuum valve is installed in the cover of the plastic vessel.

Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. 

1. A vacuum apparatus for a vacuum compression pack used to store foods, the vacuum apparatus comprising: a vacuum valve installed in the vacuum compression pack, in which the vacuum compression pack is prepared by using a pair of an upper vinyl and a lower vinyl having a sheet structure, three edges of the vacuum compression pack are thermally compressed to seal the vacuum compression pack, and one edge of the vacuum compression pack is equipped with a zipper to seal the vacuum compression pack; and a piston-type vacuum pump installed in the vacuum compression pack such that the vacuum valve is buried in the vacuum pump, in which air contained in the vacuum compression pack is forcibly drained to an outside through up-down movement of the piston-type vacuum pump to hold the vacuum compression pack in a vacuum state, wherein a center of the vacuum valve is formed with a cylindrical partition wall having a blind lower end, a lower end of the cylindrical partition wall is formed with a drain hole to allow air to pass therethrough, a packing is fixed in the cylindrical partition wall by a fixing pin such that a blade provided at an outer portion of the packing closely adheres to an inner surface of the cylindrical partition wall to seal the cylindrical partition wall, space sections are formed in a head part provided at a lower end of a handle of the vacuum pump and in a lower end of a cylinder, check valves are accommodated in the space sections and fixed by covers, and the check valves are open/closed in opposition to each other as the handle is actuated, thereby draining the air to the outside. 